Photo-Sharing: An Investigation of Chinese Overseas...

Photo-Sharing: An Investigation of Chinese Overseas Students,

Practice and Privacy

A study submitted in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Science in Information Management

at

THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD

by

YIXUAN GAO

September 2014

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Acknowledgement

I would like to gratefully acknowledge my supervisor Dr. Robert Villa for guidance and

support and useful comments throughout this research. I cannot finish it smoothly without his

help. They gave me much suggests of how to make my study effectively, and always

encouraged me to improve my research as well as giving me confidence to overcome

difficulties. In addition, I would like to thank all the participants who took part in this study.

Moreover, I would also like to thank Dr. Angel Lin, Dr. Peter Stordy, Dr. Andrew Cox and

Ms. Sheila Webber. At the initial of starting my dissertation proposal, they gave me very

useful advices and inspirations for my research topic.

Furthermore, I would like to thank my friends and family for their supports, encouragement

and help.

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Abstract

Background and Aims.

With the rapid development of technology, more and more people have taken part in photo

related activities, including taking, managing and sharing photos. Nowadays, people regard

photo sharing as a social way to maintain relationships with others. Meanwhile, as photo

sharing becomes easier and widely spread via the Internet, new privacy issues may emerge in

this area.

The study aimed to interview Chinese international students about their photo sharing

behaviours and discover the considerations of Chinese international students about mobile

photo sharing privacy issues.

Methods.

The method of collecting data was conducted interviews with 10 Chinese overseas students in

the UK, including 5 female and 5 male students. The interviews consists with three sections,

the first section aimed to gather general information about interviewees. The second section

aimed to investigate their photo sharing behaviours including taking, managing and sharing

photos. The third section aimed to explore and discover mobile photo sharing privacy issues.

Findings.

The findings of this study shows that Chinese overseas students have similar photowork

lifecycle with previous study (Kirk et al., 2006). However, Cloud Drive has changed their

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behaviours, especially for the process of photo managing. Students have shown certain level

of privacy considerations. Nevertheless, they have a low awareness of security aspect.

Conclusions.

This study found that a new photowork lifecycle of Chinese overseas students. In addition,

the changes of their photo sharing behaviours have been identified. Moreover, different

viewpoints about their photo sharing privacy considerations and concerns were also found

and presented in this study.

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Contents

Acknowledgement .................................................................................................................................. ii

Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. iii

Contents .................................................................................................................................................. v

Chapter 1 - INTRODUCTION & CONTEXT ........................................................................................ 1

1.1 Research Background ................................................................................................................... 1

1.2 Motivation ..................................................................................................................................... 2

1.3 Research Question ........................................................................................................................ 3

1.4 Research Aims and Objectives ..................................................................................................... 3

1.5 Research Structure ........................................................................................................................ 4

Chapter 2 – LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................................... 6

2.1 The Background of Digital Photography and Photo Sharing ........................................................ 6

2.2 The Process of Photo Sharing ....................................................................................................... 7

2.4 Photo Sharing Websites and Applications .................................................................................... 9

2.5 The Rise of Mobile Social Networks .......................................................................................... 10

2.6 WeChat ....................................................................................................................................... 11

2.7 Privacy Issues in Online and Mobile Photo Sharing ................................................................... 12

2.8 GPS and Wi-Fi Triangulation ..................................................................................................... 13

Chapter 3 - METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................ 15

3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 15

3.2 Qualitative Research ................................................................................................................... 15

3.3 Interviews .................................................................................................................................... 15

3.4 Style of Question ......................................................................................................................... 16

3.5 Pilot Study ................................................................................................................................... 17

3.6 Interview Structure ...................................................................................................................... 18

3.7 Research Sample ......................................................................................................................... 18

3.8 Interview Implementation and Data Analysis ............................................................................. 19

3.9 Practicalities ................................................................................................................................ 20

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3.10 Ethical Aspects .......................................................................................................................... 20

Chapter 4 - RESULTS .......................................................................................................................... 22

4.1 Results Section (1) ...................................................................................................................... 22

4.2 Results Section (2) ...................................................................................................................... 23

4.2.1 Photo Taking ................................................................................................................ 24

4.2.2 Photo Managing ........................................................................................................... 25

4.2.3 Photo sharing ............................................................................................................... 26

4.2.4 The Change of Photo Sharing Behaviour (The UK vs China) ..................................... 27

4.3 Results Section (3) ...................................................................................................................... 29

4.4 Results Section (4) ...................................................................................................................... 31

4.4.1 Mobile Photo sharing Privacy (WeChat) ..................................................................... 31

4.4.2 Security ........................................................................................................................ 32

4.4.3 Identity ......................................................................................................................... 33

4.4.4 Social Disclosure.......................................................................................................... 33

4.4.5 Convenience ................................................................................................................. 34

4.5 Results Section (5) ...................................................................................................................... 35

4.5.1 Location Privacy .......................................................................................................... 35

4.6 Summary of Qualitative Findings ............................................................................................... 36

Chapter 5 - DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................... 39

5.1 Research Objective 1: ................................................................................................................. 39





Chapter 6 - CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 47

6.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 47

6.2 Key Findings ............................................................................................................................... 47

6.3 Limitations to the Study .............................................................................................................. 48

6.4 Recommendations for Further Research ..................................................................................... 49

References ............................................................................................................................................. 50

Appendices ............................................................................................................................................ 55

Appendix A ....................................................................................................................................... 55

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Appendix B ....................................................................................................................................... 59

Appendix C ....................................................................................................................................... 60

Appendix D ....................................................................................................................................... 65

Appendix E ....................................................................................................................................... 67

Appendix F........................................................................................................................................ 69

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Chapter 1 - INTRODUCTION & CONTEXT

1.1 Research Background

Since the development of digital camera’s technology, photo-sharing has become more popular in

recent years, especially among young people. Taking photos becomes more and more easy and cheaper

for people. Most of them have at least one camera. Also, almost all mobile phones have a camera lens,

which can be used by people for snapshot. Even though some people argues (Kim & Zimmerman,

2006) that increasing photos has a bad impact on the quality of photography and the pursuit for the art,

however, users are willing to accept this way to take photo. Besides, in order to attract more customers

to consume their products, the handset manufacturers cooperate with camera lens providers to meet

varies of requirements of their customers, such as improving the photo-pixel. Moreover, in the last 10

years, since the data storage technology developed rapidly, current memory space is extremely larger

than the past. People could take as much photos as they want without consider the lack of storage

problem. As a consequence, there are mass of photos stored in their devices, which need people

manage and organize their photos effectively.

Social networking provide a new way for people to manage and utilize their photos (Livingstone,

2008). On these website, people can create own photo albums to classify photos in the different

categories, which makes them easily to be found. Moreover, emerge of Cloud technology makes it

possible storage the personal photos on the Internet. People can use any devices to upload, download,

view and modify their photos (Vartiainen & Väänänen-Vainio-Mattila, 2010). Mobile, in terms of its

convenience has become the most important devices and successful introduce the cloud application.

Thus, photo sharing can be maximum utilized its value on the portable devices. Furthermore, the fast

Wireless Mobile Internet and Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) which can support users upload larger photos

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in less time. Typically, photo sharing apps have some basic and crucial functions, such as photo album,

tagging and comment.

It is a fast pace of life, people have to spend much time on daily duties, therefore, they have little

opportunities to make new friends. However, mobile, as a portable device can be used anytime. For

example, when people are waiting for an underground or bus, they can browse photos taken by other

people. These apps can not only provide photo management and photo sharing services, but also

benefit their users for making new friends and sharing thoughts of photography (Murugesan, 2007).

People can upload their photos with tags, which could be the key information of the pictures. Strangers

can find the pictures by tags, which could be a new way to make friends. In addition, photo sharing can

increase the social activities in real life. For instance, some people may not have idea where to go, the

users can find the interesting activities on the photo sharing platform and meet with each other in the

same interests group.

Although photo sharing can bring advantages to users, it may also have several potential negative

implications on them. With the growing numbers of users, there are more and more issues occurred

during photo sharing process such as the personal information and data disclosure, consequently, the

importance of privacy issues are unprecedented realized by both users and researchers (Acquisti &

Grossklags, 2004; Acquisti & Gross, 2006; Lederer et al., 2004; Palen & Dourish, 2003). Owing to the

rich features provided by the photo sharing sites, people can easily share their photos with their friends

and relatives. However, these photos may be re-used by other people with different purposes. For

instance, employers (Palank, 2006) and government (Romano, 2006) use Facebook users’ photos to

survey the personal behaviour and characteristic without permission from users.

1.2 Motivation

Although many researchers have done much work on surveying people’s photo sharing behaviours,

there is a lack of research on a specific group of people (Stutzman, 2006; Stelmaszewska et al., 2008).

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The first aims of this dissertation is to focus on Chinese international students to investigate their photo

sharing behaviours. The reason to choose Chinese students as a target group are that they are becoming

the major international students in the UK. Thus it has a significant importance to study on this

specific group. Since they are studying and living aboard, almost everything has changed such as

environment and lifestyle. Moreover, due to the far distance between the UK and China, Chinese

international students may change their photo sharing habits to be well adapt these changes. Therefore,

investigating on Chinese overseas students is necessary and there may have several interesting findings.

Secondly, this dissertation aims to explore the existing mobile photo sharing privacy issues among

Chinese international students and find their considerations about location privacy.

1.3 Research Question

In the early years, taking photos are expensive for most people. However, with the digital camera was

invented and the development related technology, more and more people have taken part in photo

related activities, including taking, managing and sharing photos. Nowadays, as there are varied ways

for photo sharing and convenient features of social networking sites and apps, many people regard

photo sharing as a social approach. Since photo sharing becomes popular, it is interesting to investigate

how and why people take, manage and share photos, what are their considerations and concerns about

photo sharing privacy?

1.4 Research Aims and Objectives

Aims

The study aimed to interview Chinese international students about their photo sharing behaviours.

To discover the considerations of Chinese international students about mobile photo sharing

privacy issues.

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Objectives

To investigate Chinese overseas students’ photo sharing behaviours, including photo taking,

managing and sharing.

To identify the changes of Chinese overseas students’ photo sharing behaviours (The UK vs

China).

To find out the status quo of mobile photo sharing apps used among Chinese overseas students.

To discuss mobile photo sharing privacy issues and concerns based on users’ experience of using

WeChat.

To discover Chinese overseas students’ attitude and considerations about location privacy.

1.5 Research Structure

Chapter 1 – Introduction and context

In this chapter, the background and motivation of this research will be introduced. Research questions,

aims and objectives are also described.

Chapter 2 – Literature Review

The related research will be discussed and evaluated. In terms of different research areas, these

literatures were categorized into relevant themes.

Chapter 3 – Methodology

This chapter aims to introduce the whole process of the research. The reason to choose qualitative

research method applied in this study. To explain to readers how did the results carry out and analyze.

Chapter 4 – Results

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This chapter will present the results gathered and interpreted from interviews. It contains key results

which can be used for discussion and answer the relevant research objectives.

Chapter 5 – Discussion

The data from result section will be extracted, discussed and analyzed in this chapter. Some findings or

arguments may need to compare and contrast with related works.

Chapter 6 – Conclusion

To summarize the entire paper, including the key findings, limitation of this research. In addition,

further improvements can be given by the researcher at the end of this dissertation.

References

All articles and any other resources cited or quoted in this research will be presented in this section.

Appendix

All materials or tools that have supported this study will be attached in this section. (e.g. the sample of

interview questions)

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Chapter 2 – LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 The Background of Digital Photography and Photo Sharing

Photography has a long history. Since the camera was invented, the technology has being developed

till today. Henze and Boll (2008) noted that consumer photography has been extensive applied in

people’s memory sharing and scene recording in the last century. In the past, the camera is a luxury for

many people. According to Sarvas (2008) “Technology changes from the photography are based on

digitalization and the invention of the Internet” (P.1). With the advent of digital cameras, the

behaviours of people for taking photos have totally changed. Formerly, in order to have a look at the

photos, people need to develop them in the photo studio, which is not convenient and expensive

(Henze & Boll, 2008). In contrast, nowadays, people could view the digital photos instantly after

taking photos on the camera. This makes people easy to select the best photos.

Currently, due to the decrease in cost, the camera has become a consumer product, increasingly people

use it take photos for capturing moments, thus, it inextricably linked with people's lives. Golder (2008)

pointed out that digital photography play an essential role in people’s daily lives, including satisfy

social activities through photos and preserving memories. It is clear that photos can be an important

medium which linked people together. A book written by Mandl and Levin (1989) indicated that

pictures can be a better way for people to understand the meaning more effective than text. Also, they

revealed that “the pictures provides an organized, coherent, reductive macrostructure of the text

content” (P.16). Therefore, the photo as a kind of picture is a great way for people to store and convey

information.

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The photo only contains information, however, if sharing it to others, that will makes the information

which contained in the photo more meaningful and valuable. Richard Chalfen (1987) was the foremost

person who do research in consumer photography and raised the concepts of home mode and Kodak

Culture. He defined the concept of ‘home mode’ as sharing and characterizing selection of audiences.

For example, after taking photos, the photographer desire to share their photos with someone. Besides,

they are willing to choose the target audiences to share photos with them. Family members, relatives

and friends are the main audiences and they are familiar with the people in the photos. At the same

time, the photographer normally knows the persons appeared in the photos as well. The home mode of

communication illustrated that share photos and short videos of traditional themes, such as family

parties and festivals are the common behaviour of consumer (Miller & Edwards, 2007). The

traditional photo sharing method is that people first developed photos and organized them in personal

photo album, then choose several photos to share with relatives or friends, which is usually face to face.

In the late 1990’s, the camera and the camera phone as two latest digital technologies had accepted by

consumers (Miller & Edwards, 2007). Since that time, photo sharing practice has changed. In the

recent research on camera phones photo sharing practice, Stelmaszewska, Fields and Blandford (2008)

showed that there are three main factors occurred to shape the behaviour of mobile camera users when

photo sharing, including categories of people (the group of people involved in photo sharing process),

photo sharing places and the photo’s value.

2.2 The Process of Photo Sharing

Previous research carried out the notation of “photowork” which means the entire activities emerged

after photo captured and before sharing (Kirk et al., 2006). Kirk et al. mainly focus on users’

behaviours of photowork, including reviewing, gathering, managing, editing and sorting digital photos.

As it can be seen from the diagram, the whole process of photowork was introduced (Figure 2.1).

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Capture (1)

Download (2)

File pictures

(3)

Pre-share edit

(4)

Share (5)

Edit on

Camera (1.1)

Edit on PC

(2.1)

Back up (3.1)

Printing

pictures (3.2)

Pre-download stage

At-download stage

Pre-share stage

Figure 2.1 Flow diagram of photowork lifecycle (Kirk et al., 2006).

It is clear that Kirk et al. divided digital photowork into three stages. They were “pre-download” stage,

“at-download” stage and “pre-share” stage. At the first stage off Kirk’s model, participants reported

that after capturing photos, their photowork began with reviewing and deleting undesirable pictures

(low quality or out of focus shots). Another reason for deleting photos is due to lacking of memory

storage. The maximum number of pictures taken by users is determined by the memory size. At the

stage of downloading the pictures, activities related photo processing became varied. Generally, people

mentioned three reasons led them to download pictures from cameras to computers. One was users do

not want to accumulate lots of photos, thus they regularly download them, another reason was event-

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driven, and the third reason was driven by the purpose of transferring photos to specific individuals or

group of people (Kirk et al., 2006). After downloading photos, part of users organized and archived

them straightaway, while others reviewed photos again before storing them into files. Under normal

circumstances, users was habituated to re-name folders with date or event names. For the pre-share

stage, users started to conduct photo sharing related activities. Some people shared their photos

instantly without any editing. However, others may began with reviewing and selecting several photos.

Then moving them into a new folders, which contained the photos to be shared. After carefully editing

(e.g. being edited by Photoshop), they were able to share with others. There are several ways for

people to share photos, including printed-out pictures, viewing on electronic devices (such as

computers, mobile), sending emails with pictures, webpages (blogs and social networking sites).

2.4 Photo Sharing Websites and Applications

Generally, there are many kind of photo sharing website on the Internet, which are designed in

different features based on specific user requirements. Twitter1, a burgeoning microblog website,

although its main function is sending short message, it also focus on the photo sharing to help users

convey more vivid information (Correa, Sureka & Sethi, 2012). Facebook2, a much more popular

social network website, which provide more interesting functions for users. It allows users to upload

photos on personal space which can make comment by other friends. Users can give their positive

feedback on photos easily and fast by the like functionality (Nadkarni, & Hofmann, 2012). Flickr3, as a

professional photo sharing website has a large user groups. It allow all people on the website to see the

public photos uploaded by others (Van House, 2007). Lofter4 is a Chinese photo sharing website, due

to its interface design and high standard service, it is current the most popular photo sharing website in

China.

1 www,twitter.com 2 www.facebook.com 3 www.flickr.com 4 www.lofter.com

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Since the popularity of mobile phones and portable devices, these enterprises put more effort on the

applications development (Ahmadi, Repenning, & Ioannidou, 2008). In fact, most of photo sharing

websites have developed applications on different mobile operating systems, which can expand their

market share. Instagram, a photo sharing app which provides rich functionality and concise interface is

fond of many people in the world (Salomon, 2013). It main business activity is to help its users to edit

and share photos (McNely, 2012) Perhaps, Facebook has aware of the importance of the potential

mobile photo sharing market, it cost one billion U.S. dollars for acquiring the Instagram in 2012 (Rusli,

2012). Although Facebook spend that huge amounts of money on the transaction, it has successfully

linked the Instagram users with Facebook, which could keep the industry leading position.

Generally, with convenience of mobile applications, users can merged the process of taking photos,

manage photos and sharing photos together, which will save much time and improve efficiency.

Moreover, compare to personal computer (PC), mobile can have several advantages, such as the

Global Positioning System (GPS), which can add some new interesting features in the application

design (Wu, Yan & Zhang, 2011). For example, the software could utilize the position information by

calling positioning module and show the photos uploaded by other users in the vicinity. Furthermore,

users can continuous benefit from the development of mobile technology (Van House, Davis, Ames,

Finn & Viswanathan, 2005).

2.5 The Rise of Mobile Social Networks

Although the main function of mobile phone is to help people contact with relatives and friends, its

role are changing rapidly. As Adler (2014) stated, social mobile networking as a social approach has

been widely acknowledged and used by people.

According to Adler (2014), traditional web-based social networking sites are forwardly focusing on

mobile users. For instance, in October, 2013, 70 percent of Facebook users access the site though

mobile application at least once a month (Adler, 2014). The CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg

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reported that 48 percent of active users only use mobile to access their accounts (Lunden, 2013). At the

same time, Twitter had similar data which indicated that 70 percent of its users were from mobile

(Smith, 2014). Moreover, the number of uses of purely mobile social networking apps has dramatically

increased as well (Adler, 2014). Three most popular apps – Whatsapp, LINE and WeChat – are only

has mobile version. In addition, mobile photo sharing apps such as Instagram has also been widely

used.

2.6 WeChat

WeChat, commonly named ‘Weixin’ among Chinese was developed and published by Tencent

Technology (Shenzhen) Company Ltd. In January 21, 2011 (Cai & Chen, 2012). Since this app was

released to public, its active user base is growing quickly and becoming China's most influential social

software (Lihong, 2013). WeChat provides free functions for users, including instant messaging (IM),

photo and video sharing. All functions are enabled under network environment. Users can easily

communicate with their friends. It is because of its rich functionality, low cost and quality of service,

WeChat as a free app is accepted by more and more people which makes it becomes a successful

software (Millward, 2014).

Although there are several similar software, the Location Based Service such as ‘People Nearby’

function which results in WeChat distinct from others. This feature allows users make new friends who

are nearby. For example, an individual desire to find someone to chat with, he/she can view nearby

users’ current status, photos, and distance to decide whether they are the good person to make friends.

In other word, this function satisfies people’s curiosity, while providing more networking opportunities.

Consequently, the number of users expand exponentially.

There are mainly three ways for photo sharing in WeChat, including individual, group and Moments.

Individual. According to requirements such as different targeted people, users can choose

corresponding approaches to share photos. Individual and group photo sharing approaches are more

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private than the Moments. The Moments provide places for users to share photos and view friends’

photos. WeChat also allow its users leave comments for photos shared in the Moments. As Lipczak et

al. (2012) noted, the comment function provide opportunities for individuals share ideas. In addition,

users can upload a photo as their cover to express their individuality to friends. Moreover, photos

shared on the Moments are presented by time line, which means users have to view all photos in that

order. Therefore, users sometimes cannot find particular photos easily.

2.7 Privacy Issues in Online and Mobile Photo Sharing

As photo sharing is becoming easier and widely used for people, privacy issues are concerned by more

and more people. Recently privacy in photo sharing is a popular research area, for example, Miller

(2007) Kodak Culture participants are more likely with high sensitivity for privacy, which is compared

to Snaprs users. For instance, the researcher showed a photo which contains a girl wearing swimsuit was

walking on the beach. A Kodak people worried that pedophiles may download and using the photos in

an improper way, which may hurt children. Sarvas (2008) noted that in terms of the different people,

photos taken and shared in different settings, which can ensure the photo owner’s privacy.

Nevertheless, the emerged latest information technology is transforming this. Gross (2005) has

surveyed the privacy issues among Facebook users. Normally, the users on Facebook are linked with

over one hundred fellows and some of friends cannot be classified into a specific groups. Worse, some

people appeared in the friend list might be strangers. As a consequence, the users’ personal

information and private photos could be viewed by strangers.

The new emerged technologies will bring new privacy issues in the photo sharing. In recent study,

Friedland and Sommer (2010) explored the privacy implications of Geo-Tagging. They mentioned that

location-based service suppliers may have different settlements to privacy. For instance, the geo-

service is optional on Flickr, while on some other website it is default, which makes the users unaware

of their location information has been uploaded on the Internet. Meanwhile, devices can be a factor to

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differ the default settings of privacy as well. For example, according to different operating system on

various mobiles, iPhone automatically ask the user whether to open location-based services to add geo-

tags with the images. In contrast, Android phones need the user to switch on the functionality button.

Please Rob Me, the first website to introduce the potential dangers of exposure locations (Me, 2010).

They utilize the location information to determine whether the people is at home at that time. Besmer

and Lipford (2010) investigated the tagging features on Facebook may disclose the users’ identify and

personal information. According to the research, they found that users have to accept the potential

privacy risks in order to satisfy their burning desire to share photos with others. Besides, they propose

a tool which can not only help users attain more ideal privacy, but also maintain the value of photo

sharing.

Many researcher pay a lot of efforts on dealing with privacy issues. Zhong et al. (2007) introduced

three protocols. Their main role is “To solve the nearby-friend problem without requiring a third party

that learns location information” (P.74). In addition, Olumofin et al. (2010) conducted an experiment

and they implement their approach which can secure users’ location information when they desire to

search information from the database. Moreover, Poolsappasit et al. (2009) had developed a system

prototype which can be realized to enforce location privacy. Furthermore, in Krumm’s (2009) study,

he mainly investigated the computational algorithms which can preserve and compromise location data.

The author further explain it “These algorithms treat location data as geometric information, not as

general data” P.397.

2.8 GPS and Wi-Fi Triangulation

Nowadays, mostly mobile are embedded with GPS module such as iPhone, Android-based devices.

This can allow mobiles collect users’ location data in order to be utilized by the apps. For example,

Google Maps provide map related services by calling the data gathered from GPS receivers. Another

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method for measuring the location is through connecting with Wi-Fi hotspots or cell phone tower

triangulation. According to Friedland and Sommer (2010), triangulation can be defined as an approach

to compute and determine the current location based on the signal strength with known location. In this

way, positions obtained are relatively high precision.

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Chapter 3 - METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

In the literature review chapter, several researches which relevant to the research questions have been

reviewed. They are background of photo sharing, the photo sharing practice and the privacy in mobile

photo sharing.

In this dissertation, qualitative research methods was applied in the whole research process, in order to

study Chinese international student about their photo sharing behaviours and relevant the privacy

issues.

The inductive methodology (Lincoln, 1985) was chosen and used in this dissertation. This can be a

good approach to carry out conclusion and solutions in order to answer the proposed research question.

3.2 Qualitative Research

Qualitative research method was applied in this study to get sufficient qualitative research data in order

to meet the aims of this research. The data was collected by interviews with Chinese international

students. To ask them several open ended questions and using the voice recorder to record theses

conversions. According to Van Maanen (1979), qualitative research can cover varies of interpretive

techniques which can well presenting the nature of the phenomenon occurred in the real world.

Likewise, Merriam (2009) pointed out that qualitative researchers primarily desire to figure out

participants’ understanding of their social context and their experiences.

3.3 Interviews

In this dissertation, interview was used to improve the effect and accurate (Nov, Naaman and Ye,

2008). This approach can provide a change to acquire and gather more detailed and in-depth data and

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information for the research question, which may support researchers have a deeper thinking, more

thorough understanding and more comprehensive analysis of the problem. An interview can be defined

as a process in which both the interviewer and interviewee participate in a conversation which may

include several related questions (DeMarrais, 2004). Similarly, Patton (2002:341) point out that

interview approach can be used to survey and evaluate what is ‘in and on someone else’s mind‘.

Consequently, interviews are deemed to the effective and proper approaches for generating, acquiring

and gathering the most quality data for this research.

In this research, in order to gather the raw data through conversations between participants and

researcher, all Interviews were recorded by a voice recorder. The researcher also used the mobile

phone to record interviews as backups. As Khanna and Kendall (2008) indicated that recording can be

a good method to record the all conversations in interviews. Also, records can allow the researcher

recall and revisit the important data. Moreover, with existing records, the interviewer were able to

rethink and redesign questions and process of the following interviews, which can have a positive

implication of results of the study. However, there also exists disadvantages caused by recording

interviews. For instance, according to Khanna and Kendall (2008), recording interviews may lead to

interviewees feel nervous and uncomfortable which may affect the quality of interviews. In order to

solve this problem, the interviewer sent the interview questions to participants in advance and

informed them the researcher will record interviews. Before starting interviews, the interviewer asked

several simple questions to relax them down. Thus, all participants can performed well in the process

of interview and willing to share their experience. Furthermore, the researcher wrote down several

notes to record the key points for each interview question.

3.4 Style of Question

Open ended questions were used in this dissertation. This kind of question can more likely generate

descriptive raw data (Merriam, 2014). In addition, according to Rapley (2001) indicated that open

ended questions can be an approach which may provide more detailed in-depth data. Interviewees can

17

have more aspects or angle to answer open ended questions and the interviewer can ask participants

more detailed questions based on their answers. Open-ended questions can take many forms (Glesne &

Peshkin, 1992), such as simple phrases or completed questions. All questions asked in interviews are

aimed to acquire Chinese international students’ photo sharing experiences, attitudes and perceptions

on the photo sharing privacy.

For several specific questions, I was expected to get detailed answers from participants. Thus, if

participants ended to answer question quickly, I occasionally asked them why they think so in order to

encourage interviewees to say more. Paton (2002) argued that ‘why’ questions may cause the

participant have nothing to say which can make the interview in trouble. Nevertheless, Merriam (2009)

pointed out that a new line of questions can be emerged by asking ‘why’ questions. Although

sometimes I desired to get further responses from participants, it was important that I cannot force

them to answer ‘why’ questions. Merriam (2009) showed that for all types of questions, the

interviewer ought to avoid letting the interviewer feel too much pressure. Excessive pressure can have

a negative effect on results of interviews.

3.5 Pilot Study

A pilot study trial was conducted before formal interviews began. A friend who study in the

information school of university of Sheffield was selected. The participant’s background can fully

comply with the research requirements. During the pilot study, several issues were found such as the

order of interview questions may not appropriate. It was a great opportunity for me to practice the

process of interview and examine the potential problems then correct them. Moreover, as Nyatanga

(2005) stated that the pilot study can help researchers to rebuild the interview structure and reconfigure

the interview techniques which can improve the effect and efficiency of interviews.

After the pilot study, I found that for some reasons, my speech speed was too fast. Especially, it

happened when the participant have no idea of several specific questions. At that circumstance, I need

18

to explain the meaning and purpose of relevant questions. In addition, since all participant were

Chinese international students, I translated English interview questions to Chinese, which may easier

for them to understand. Furthermore, I used a timer when conducted the pilot study, which can help me

manage the time based on the importance of each part of the interview. These issues above were all

taken into account in real interviews. After identifying and finding solutions for each problem, I

considered that real interviews can be well carried out.

3.6 Interview Structure

According to the relevant literature and researches, interview questions were well designed and

presented in the appropriate form. According to Paton (2002), it is crucial to utilize proper words in

order to make interviewees to understand interview questions. The word should simple and clear for

participants and can improve the quality of data and information obtained from interviews. This can

help the interviewer and interviewees be aware of the purpose of the research.

The interview questions included three parts.

Part one contained several demographic questions to acquire background information of

interviewees.

Part two was designed to investigate Chinese overseas students’ general photo sharing behaviours

such as taking, managing and sharing photos.

Part three was designed to focus on Chinese overseas students’ mobile photo sharing. To

investigate on specific mobile sharing apps and its privacy aspects.

3.7 Research Sample

A sample of ten Chinese international students in total including five male students and five female

students taken part in interviews. The reason to choose equal number of gender of participants is to

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make this research more empirical and scientific. Moreover, this may be a potential aspect to have

findings when compared different gender. All of these interviews were qualified students which were

in the similar age group (23-25), good education (Bachelor or Master) and photo sharing users. Due to

the short preparation time for this research, there was a limitation for the researcher to invite more

people participate in the interview.

Merriam (2009) held the view that goal-directed sampling on account of assumptions which

researchers pursue to unearth, comprehend and acquire perceptions into research focus. Thus,

investigators have to select samples which can provide best opportunities to gather relevant data. For

the sample selected in this research, I consider that it can be applicable and relatively effective. The

individuals were satisfied the criteria of this study and they can contribute sufficient information and

various perspectives towards research questions.

3.8 Interview Implementation and Data Analysis

Participants were recruited through variety of methods such as word of mouth and e-mail. I introduced

my research topic and the approximate time may be occupied. After they agreed to participant in my

interview, I contacted with them and arranged proper time and places for interviews.

Before interviews were started, each interviewee was distributed consent form and interview questions

sheet to explain the process of interview and clarify the purpose of this research. If participants had

doubt about interview questions, the researcher would answer them in more detail ways. Participants

who took part in interviews were asked to sign consent form as a proof that they had acknowledged

terms and conditions of this research.

After all interviews were conducted, qualitative data were gathered and stored. The researcher revisited

research questions and extracted useful and valuable information from audio files. The content of

dialogues were converted into transcripts. The transcription of interviews was employed with thematic

20

analysis. All transcripts were carefully categorized and listed under relevant research aspects. In order

to find out these trends and patterns from the data, the transcriptions were subjected to coding. As

Richards and Morse (2012) suggested, analytical coding excel descriptive coding. Therefore, these

transcripts were transform into appropriate forms which based on the researchers’ interpretation and

the meaning behind answers rather than quoting the exact. In terms of different interview questions,

the researcher extract pertinent and interesting findings from the interviews rather than quoting

transcripts directly. After sorting and preliminary analysis, they were presented in themes in result

section. There are three themes in this study, including the demographic results (background

information of interviewees), photo sharing behaviours of Chinese overseas students and their mobile

photo sharing privacy considerations and concerns.

3.9 Practicalities

This research will not involves significant cost. Since The paper-based questionnaire fee is the only

cost. Electronic-based questionnaire will be sent to the participant by email. The interview will be

conducted in a group meeting room in the University library, which will booked in advance. The

equipment for helping this research, such as video recorder, voice recorder and appropriate software

are prepared. Time constraint is a key concern regarding this dissertation. It is hard to examine too

many websites or mobile apps in less than three months, therefore, some of the privacy issues may not

be identified and discussed in details.

3.10 Ethical Aspects

Ethical aspects are essential factor which need to be carefully considered before proceed the research,

especially for those researches involve human participants. According to Matthews and Ross (2010),

in order to make the research legal, the researcher need to inform the participant and consent by them.

Besides, the researcher should comply with the University of Sheffield’s Research Ethics Policy. In

21

this dissertation, all the ethical aspects will be earnest taken into consideration, the participant will be

anonymous.

22

Chapter 4 - RESULTS

This chapter aims to presented the results and findings gathered from interviews. In terms of different

research questions, the results are presented in five sections.

4.1 Results Section (1)

As mentioned in the methodology chapter, all interviewees were asked to provide their background

information, including date of birth (age), gender, education background (Master of Science,

Information Management). The demographic results of interviewees are presented in the table (Table

4.1) below.

Table 4.1 The information of Participants

Participant (P) Age Gender Education Background

Participant 1(A) 25 Male MSc (Information Management)

Participant 2(B) 25 Male MSc (Science Communication)

Participant 3(C) 23 Male MSc (International Transport)

Participant 4(D) 24 Male MSc (Structural and Concrete Engineering)

Participant 5(E) 23 Male MSc (Information Management)

23

Participant 6(F) 24 Female MSc (Information Management)

Participant 7(G) 25 Female MSc (Marketing Management Practice)

Participant 8(H) 23 Female MSc (Information Management)

Participant 9(I) 25 Female MSc (Finance and Accounting)

Participant 10(J) 24 Female MSc (Creative and Cultural Industries Management)

As noted in the methodology chapter, all participants are Chinese international students who are

undertaking their degree in the UK. The age group range is from 23 to 25 years old. There are five

male and five female, in total ten interviewees participant in this interview. They have similar

education backgrounds with Chinese bachelor degrees and are currently study master degree aboard.

However, they are from various faculties; thus, their major can be different.


Participants were asked to share their experience about the whole processes of photo sharing behaviour,

including photo taking, managing and sharing. The results are presented in this order.

24

4.2.1 Photo Taking

All participants reported that they took photos every week. 8 out of 10 students stated that they

normally photographed around 5 times a week. For example, P6 noted that “I usually take photos

about 5 times a week”. However, two interviewees gave totally different answers. P8 said “I almost

take photo every day, for example, I will use my mobile photo to take photo for my meals”. P9: ”I

barely take photos, cause during this year, I did not go for a trip”.

All Chinese overseas students are used to taking photos by using mobile phones and most of them

(9/10) consider that mobile phone is the primary device to take pictures.

P7: “I used to have a digital camera in China, before going aboard, I bought a new Samsung Android phone,

and it has a great performance in camera. Since my digital camera is too old, I really do not want to bring it to

the UK”.

Nevertheless, for several particular activities, seven students prefer to use more professional digital

cameras.

P8: ”Sometimes, I have special requirement for the photos. For example, in the dark environment, if you want

to have a good quality of photos, the DSLR (digital single lens reflex) camera can allow you to achieve that. At

that moment, my mobile phone cannot satisfy my requirements”.

All participants cannot give an exact number of the average photos they take during a period of time.

P1: “I cannot answer this question, it depends, usually, I take a few photos each time”. As P6

responded “if there are special cases such as a sports event or a trip, I will take a large amount of

photos, sometimes, 200 to 300 photos per event or in one day”.

25

4.2.2 Photo Managing

The approaches of photo managing among Chinese international students are varied. Most of them

(8/10) are willing to transfer their raw photos to their personal computer; however, as P9 responded “I

barely use my computer to storage my photos. I only save them on my mobile phone.” Participants

answered that they were not frequently back up their photos.

P3: “After an event or a trip, I will storage these photos on my computer”.

Moreover, two students (P8 and P10) reported that they started to use Cloud Drive to back up their

photos.

P10: “Last time when I travel to Europe, I forgot to bring my digital camera. So I use my phone to take photos.

But the memory capacity of my phone is not enough, thus, I uploaded photos to a Cloud Drive website when I

connected Wi-Fi. After I come back to home, I will download them on PC”.

Nearly all (9/10) interviewees reported that they were accustomed to classifying their photos by date,

themes or places (Figure 4.1). In the screenshot, a participant’s photo folder was presented. All files

were named by date, place and event order. Moreover, participants noted that they usually set up sub-

folders to organize photos. More than half of participants (7/10) only used the file management

functions provided by operating system. Others such as P2 and P3 prefered to use professional photo

software (e.g. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and iPhoto (Mac OS)). P3: “The software is better, I can

easy to find and organize my photos”. One student responded that online album is a good place to store

your photos which can save your computer hard disk capacity.

26

Figure 4.1 Sample of participant’s photo folder order by date, place and theme.

4.2.3 Photo sharing

Pre-sharing

There are aspects that need to be taken into account before photo sharing. First, photos are needed to

be selected for sharing. P6: “For different groups of people, I will choose different photos. For some

private photos, I hope the pictures visible only myself”. Second, photos may need to be pre-edited. As

P2 noted “I am a shutterbug, in order to make my photos more beautiful, I prefer to use photo software

to edit them before sharing”. Third, a short description for each photo may be needed. P8: “Sometimes

photos cannot provide sufficient information for viewers, therefore, I usually add a short description

for each photo, even a trip diary to tell a full story for my friends”.

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Sharing Targeted Groups

All the Chinese international students were photo sharing users. Most of them (8/10) are fond of

sharing photo with others. They are willing to share photos with relatives or friends, especially for

close friends. P6: “I always share photos with my friends, because we have similar background, it is a

way of socializing”. In addition, two students admitted that they use several specific photo sharing

websites or apps to share photos with strangers.

P2: “I share my photos on Lofter. It is a professional photo sharing website. Many users have a high level of

photography. Thus, they can give me some suggestions to improve my skill. Furthermore, if they praised my

photos, I would be very pleased”.

Sharing Approach

Most of participants (9/10) adopted several ways for sharing photos. One student reported that he

printed photos out, but rarely. For instance, P2: ” I choose the best photo from my photo collection and

print it out as a postcard. Then I will post this special gift to my friend”. In addition, all participants are

social networking websites users and it is an important approach for Chinese students to share photos.

P8: “I often use social networking website for photo sharing, because my friends are using it. It can be

easier for them to see my photos”. Furthermore, mobile photo sharing is popular among Chinese

international students. P10: ”Since its convenience, sharing photos on mobile is easier than use PC.”

Most students have more than one photo sharing apps. For example, P2: “I installed several photo

sharing apps on my mobile phone, including Wechat, Weibo, Instagram and Lofter. They are used for

different purposes, some of them may have overlaps”.

4.2.4 The Change of Photo Sharing Behaviour (The UK vs China)

The use of apps

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All participants installed more photo sharing apps than in China.

P8: “I only use Wechat, Weibo and QQ in China. But after I met some new foreign friends, in order to interact

with them easier, I start to use several popular apps among them such as Facebook.”

P8 also noted,

“According to the types of photos, I will share to my friend selectively. Sometimes I need to share same photos

on different apps”.

Another student mentioned that the technology can be a factor to share more photos.

P5: “In the UK, the 3G technology has been widely used. It can allow me upload photos instantly. Moreover,

The UK has set up many Wi-Fi hotspots. Some of them are free to public. It is quite convenient for me”.

Contact with parents

One student responded that the way of contacting with parents had changed.

P10: ”Previously, since I got my bachelor degree in China, my parents was not far from me. We normally

contact by call. However, after I study aboard, due to the distance problem, we prefer to use photos or videos to

contact”.

Sense of security

There is an interesting phenomenon in that Chinese overseas students tend enhance to their safety

awareness. For instance,

P6 said “After coming to the UK, I met several photo sharing privacy issues. I got experience from these.

Moreover, study and live aboard is not easy, I have to strengthen self-protection awareness to face challenges

in new environment”.

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Information Literacy

One student referred that she has benefited from a module in the UK.

P8: “I remembered that I have Information Literacy last semester. After finishing that course, I realized that I

need to change my photo sharing behaviour. In the past, I just upload photos on social network. Now, I will first

write a description for my online photo album, then add further description for each photo. This can lead to my

friends know my purposes of sharing photos”.


Section 3 presents the result of status of Chinese students to use mobile sharing applications.

Participants were asked to select one or more frequently used apps. The interviewer then asked several

related questions based on apps. For example, how often do they use apps for one day, what kind of

photos do they take. The aims of these questions is to explore Chinese students’ habits of mobile photo

sharing apps.

Table 4.2 The use of mobile photo sharing applications.

Participan

t

Name of Apps Frequency

(Day)

Kind of Photo Share targeted

people

P1 WeChat, Weibo 5 Landscape, Daily Photos Family, Friends

P2 WeChat, Weibo,

Instagram

10 Landscape, Documentary,

Daily Photos

Family, Friends,

Strangers

30

P3 WeChat, Weibo 10 Landscape, Daily Photos Family, Friends

P4 WeChat, QQ 2 Landscape, Daily Photos Family, Friends

P5 WeChat, Weibo,

Facebook

3 Landscape, Daily Photos Family, Friends,

Girlfriend

P6 WeChat,

Facebook

6 Landscape, Daily Photos Family, Friends

P7 WeChat, QQ 3 Landscape, Daily Photos Family, Friends

P8 WeChat, QQ,

Facebook

5 Landscape, Daily Photos Family, Friends

P9 WeChat, Weibo 2 Landscape, Daily Photos Family, Friends,

Boyfriend

P10 WeChat, Weibo,

Lofter

5 Landscape, Daily Photos Family, Friends,

Strangers

In the table 4.2 above, all participants used more than one mobile photo sharing apps. WeChat

becomes the most widely used photo sharing apps among Chinese international students. Their average

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frequency for using these apps was about 5 times a day, including sharing and viewing photos. All

students took landscape and daily photos. However, in addition, P2 responded that ‘I love photography,

sometimes I will try to shoot some other kind of photos such as documentary photos”. It seems that

family and friends were the main targeted photo sharing groups. Nevertheless, two students noted that

they occasionally share photos to public, which means everyone can view their shared photos.


4.4.1 Mobile Photo sharing Privacy (WeChat)

In the process of review record of interviews, the interviewer analysed and extracted the key point of

their privacy concerns. Most participants expressed several concerns. Nearly all of them (9/10) have

given their personal experiences about privacy issues. The results are presented in a table adapted from

Ahern et al. (2007). There are two dimensions in the table which represent varies privacy aspects. One

dimension contains four categories, including security, social identity, social disclosure and

convenience. The other dimension is divided into two categories based on the object: self and other.

(Table 4.3)

Table 4.3 The categories of privacy considerations. (Ahern et al., 2007)

Security Identity Social Disclosure Convenience

Self Exposure to

personal safety

hazards

Own identity Exposing socially

sensitive information to

contacts

Difficulty of

sharing and

viewing

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Other Exposure to other

safety hazards

Impact on other’s

identity

Exposing other’s

socially sensitive

information

Other’s ability to

share and view

There is a point which needs to be clarified in that not all of the responses from participants presented

in this table. Interviewees only mentioned several considerations about photo-related privacy issues.

In the following section, four aspects are described. For each aspect, examples and transcripts

generated from interviews are presented.

4.4.2 Security

Personal security (Personal and property safety) as a part of categories was noted by participants in

interviews. Chinese female overseas students were more likely tend to encounter and concern about

photo sharing related privacy issues. P6 commented on an unpleasant experience “I do not know

strangers can view my 10 recent photos. Last year someone view my photos and utilize the information

in my photos. I should to turn off this function earlier”. Moreover, another female student mentioned

that location based services was a matter of much concern. She said, “I use the ‘People Nearby’ for fun,

however, I also can be seen by others. Sometimes male strangers want to chat with me and it really

makes me feel uncomfortable”. In this case, the accurate location can be a potential risk. As P8 said,

“This app can provide exact location information for users based on triangulation location technology.

I am worry about if someone want to use this information in improper way”. However, some of

participants, especially male students, showed little concerns about security. They considered that

“Since the large number of users, they cannot easily target by criminals”.

Interviewees also mentioned others’ potential security risks (commonly refer to friends or family

members) who appeared in their photos. For example, P5 noted about group photos, “My friends and I

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have a habit to take a photo together. I will not share these photos to others due to they are private for

us”.

4.4.3 Identity

Identity is needed to be edited and presented by the user, as a part of major social function was applied

in social network sites and relevant mobile apps. In order to examine the identity issues, several related

questions were asked. Most participants (8/10) showed their concerns about their identity. As one

student said, “Shared photos sometimes may contain identity information, which can be exposed and

utilized by others”. Another student P8 noted that, “My parent asked me to share photos with them, but

I do not want them see my friends, so I always select photos before share to them”. Social network like

WeChat requests users upload a photo as their avatars. Half participants reported that they never use

their real photos such as selfie as avatar. A student said, “I am a little bit shy and I do not want

strangers see my real face, instead, I always choose a comic pictures for my avatar”. However, others

believe it is not a problem for them. P5 said, “I think WeChat is a safe apps, I do not worry about my

identity exposed through avatar. I use my real photo is to make it easier for friends to recognize me.

But I only use one photo for all social networking sites and apps”.

Interviewees also mentioned, and were concerned about, others’ identity issues. As P7 said,

“Generally, I will not share photos on Moments (A feature of WeChat). These photos can be shared to

specific people such as close friends. Since photos may contain private information it cannot be seen

by too many people, even all of them are my friends”.

4.4.4 Social Disclosure

Participants reported that issues may be caused by disclosing their activities and whereabouts to the

people who are familiar with. As one student commented, “If I treat my friends for a meal, I will not

upload photos on social networking sites or apps. Since not everyone was invited, I do not want them

unhappy”. Interestingly, one student think it can be a positive factor. As he noted, “I always take

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pictures for the places I have been to. My friend will leave comments under my pictures. That is a kind

of social way”.

Participants also considered the social disclosure of other people. For instance, a student reported that,

“Once I was invited by my friend to her lab. I do not want to take any photos. Because they may

contains confidential information”. According to Bellotti et al. (1996), this self-censorship behaviour

was discussed as well. They stated that the most effective means for protecting privacy was to cover

camera lens.

4.4.5 Convenience

Convenience means whether it is easy for other people to find, view and browser photos. WeChat

allows users share their photos to targeted group people. The members of groups can be edited by

users. In this research, 8 out of 10 participants responded that they will use this function to facilitate

their friends view their photos. As P6 said, “This function is great. I can share photos to the people I

want to share with”. However, other two students hold opposite views. They normally use the default

settings and share their photos to all friends. P7 said, “Before I share photos, I always screen my

photos based on my criterion. Thus, photos shared on WeChat cannot do harm to me, even someone

shared these with his friends”. P9 said, “I have few friends on WeChat and we are familiar with each

other. I believe them”.

In the other dimension, participants also considered others’ convenience such as the people appeared

in users’ photos. For instance. P2: “After I take photos for a friend of mine, when sharing photos, I tag

the friend to notice her view photos”.

35


4.5.1 Location Privacy

As mentioned above, the interviews aimed to examine the attitudes of Chinese overseas students

towards location privacy. Interviewees were asked to respond their considerations and concerns about

location privacy issues: “Do you have concerns about the location privacy”?

All participants responded to this question. Most of interviewees (8/10) admitted that they have low

awareness about the location privacy. As one participant was typical: “Actually. I didn’t know the

potential issues may be caused by location information disclosure”. Several students even did not

know how to manage location privacy settings. P1 said, “I do not know these privacy settings. Because

they are not easy to find”. However, two students noted that they set privacy options in advance before

first use mobile apps in order to avoid related issues. P7: “I usually turn off many functions, which may

occur privacy issues. The location information can be used for other purpose such as advertising”.

One student expressed no or little concern about location privacy. She commented, “I do not care

(photos with location information). I do not think it will cause any problems. For instance, I like to

share photos with my current location when I am travelling to scenic spots. Since they are public sites,

I will not be involved in troubles”.

It should be noted that different levels of granularity may have an impact on location privacy

disclosure decisions. It appears that participants have different considerations about location

granularity. One student who can represent most participants (8/10) commented that, “It need to

depend on the scope of location information. For example, a city information cannot show the exact

location which is fine. But more detailed and accurate location information that will be a problem”.

While other few students hold different views. As one interviewee said,” I think it is fine, if I shared an

exact public location with others. But not for private location such as home address”. Moreover,

compared to male students (2/5), female students (4/5) have more sense of protection awareness.

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4.6 Summary of Qualitative Findings

In this chapter, the data were gathered from Chinese overseas students. All interviewees were studying

aboard for their Master degree in the UK. The size of research group is ten, including five male and

five female students. For the first section, the researcher adopted demographic approach had found that

the average age of participants were 24.1 years old. They are from various major and different

universities as well. Before coming the UK, all of them studied in China. Therefore, they have a

similar previous education background (e.g. a lack of experience of studying and living aboard).

In the following section, Chinese international students’ photo sharing behaviours were investigated,

including photo taking, managing and sharing. All participants took photos every week, few students

take pictures every day. All of them owned a mobile camera phones, which are frequently used to

record the moment of their daily lives. Nearly half of them (4/10) have DSLR cameras and are usually

used for taking high quality pictures to satisfy their requirements. Most students took hundreds of

photos if they attended activities or went on trips. For the photo managing stage, most students (8/10)

prefer to transfer raw photos to their personal computers. Other interviewees noted that they

recognized the advantages of Cloud Drive and start to use it to back up photos. When these photos are

needed, they just downloading or instantly share to others. They are not frequently back up their

photos. All students classified and organized their photos by data, themes or places. Moreover, they

may create subfolders to help them better manage photo files. Most students (7/10) only used the file

management functions provided by operating system, while two students use more professional

software to manage photos. For the photo sharing stage, they first select photos from the album. Their

selection was based on the quality of photos and privacy concerns. Then they conduct the process of

editing selected photos. Their photo sharing targeted groups are mainly friends, family members. Few

of them (2/10) are willing to share photos with strangers. Most Chinese students have several ways to

share photos such as printed photos, social networking sites. The latter seems an important way for

37

them to share photos. In addition, mobile photo sharing becomes more and more popular among

Chinese overseas students. All students have installed more than one photo sharing apps.

Compared to previous life in China, they have some in some aspects. One of changes is that their use

of apps. They tend to use more photo sharing apps such as Facebook and spend longer time on them.

Their contact with parents also changes due to the distance. Another changes is that students are more

sensitive with their security. The final factor is that their information literacy has improved and it has

implication on their photo sharing behaviours.

At the third part of the result, the status quo of Chinese students to use mobile photo sharing apps were

presented. It shows that each participant use two or more mobile apps. WeChat is the most popular

apps among Chinese international students. The average frequency for them to use these apps are

approximately 5 times a day. They did not often upload photos. Instead of that, they were willing to

view others' photos. All students are mainly use mobile camera to take landscape and daily photos. All

students share photos to family and friends via mobile apps, however, few of them (2/10) are also

sharing photos to strangers.

In part 4 of the result, mobile photo sharing privacy issues have been investigated. More specifically,

the researcher investigated Chinese overseas students’ attitude, consideration and concerns about

mobile photo sharing. Since WeChat is the most popular apps for them, it was selected for this

research. According to Ahern et al. (2007), these considerations and concerns are divided into four

themes, which are security, identity, social disclosure and convenience. In each themes, the results are

presented in two aspects (self and others). Table 4.4 illustrates the exact number of participants who

have considerations or concerns for specific themes.

Table 4.4 Breakdown of participant consideration and concerns. (Ahern et al., 2007)

38

Security Identity Social Disclosure Convenience

Self 4 8 6 6

Other 3 3 5 4

The final section of the result focuses on the location privacy. Most of them (8/10) exhibit a lack of

awareness of location privacy issues. For example, they do not know how to set higher level of privacy

options to prevent them from potential risks. Others consideration shows that factors such as the level

of granularity may have an impact on their privacy decision makings. They do not care to share public

locations such as tourist attractions with photos. However, they never share private locations. In

addition, compared to male students, female students have more sense of protection awareness.

39

Chapter 5 - DISCUSSION

In the previous chapter, transcripts and result of interviews were presented and analysed. This chapter

aims to discuss the findings through comparing and contrasting with related works, which have been

described in the literature review chapter. In addition, the research questions will also be revisited.

There are five objectives that have been proposed in this research. In the following sections of this

chapter, key points relating to these objectives will be discussed and the ways this project have

addressed them will be outlined..

5.1 Research Objective 1:

To investigate Chinese overseas students’ photo sharing behaviours, including photo taking,

managing and sharing.

The objective is to investigate photo sharing behaviours of Chinese international students. From the

results (section 4.2.1), it shows that all participants take pictures in their daily life. Surprisingly, the

mobile camera phone has become the major device for them to take pictures. The reason for that is due

to the development of the camera phone, which can provide perfect functions to satisfy most users’

needs. Compared to the digital camera, a camera phone is more portable and makes it easy to achieve

the purpose of photo sharing. This phenomenon is differs from the research of Chen (2009). He stated

that international students in the UK preferred to use digital camera rather than mobile camera to take

photos. Nevertheless, in this study, most students (7/10) reported that they also owned professional

cameras (DSLR cameras), which are used to capture better quality photos in extreme conditions (e.g.

dark environment). The number of photos taken by students depends on whether they will travel or

engage in special activities. In those events, they can have much more opportunities and reasons to

take photos.

40

From the results (section 4.2.2), it shows that most participants (8/10) are accustomed to transferring

their photos to their computers after capturing them. This behaviour will not occur frequently. They

usually back up and organize their photos over a period of time or after attending events such as a trip.

As Robben (2003) indicated, the process of managing photos can be a tough task and people are not

willing to spend much time on organizing photos. With the popularity of Cloud Drive, Chinese

students start to utilize it to save their photos. They can instantly uploaded their photo to their Cloud

Drive with their mobile camera, which greatly reduces the transfer time. Sometimes, they instantly

share photos with close friends and family by their Cloud Drives. They tend to employ selective

download pictures from Cloud Drive when they are needed. In addition, nearly all of students (9/10)

are accustomed to naming their photos by date, themes or places. This can help them retrieve their

photos more efficiently.

From the results (section 4.2.3), it shows that students normally will conduct several activities before

sharing photos such as selecting appropriate photos, editing photos and adding descriptions. These

behaviours are similar to that noted by Kirk et al.’s (2006) photowork lifecycle. As he stated, pre-share

stage began with reviewing and selecting pictures from folders and then editing them. In addition, they

mainly share photos with family and friends. Sometimes they also desire to share with strangers in

order to acquire others’ comments, suggestions and praises. These can help them improve their

photography and obtain self-satisfaction. Depending on what group of people they wish to target,

students tend to use different platforms to share photos. For instance, students share photos with

Chinese friends on WeChat, while use Facebook to share with foreign friends. There are several

approaches for Chinese international students to share photos, including showing paper based photos

or posting on social networking sites. Students reported that they installed more than one mobile

sharing apps, which can be used as evidence to prove that mobile photo sharing is heavily used by

them.

41

To sum up, the new model of Chinese international students’ photowork lifecycle can be describe in

figure 5.1.

Capture (1)

Download (2)

File pictures

(3)

Pre-share edit

(4)

Share (5)

Edit on

Camera (1.1)

Edit on PC

(2.2)

Back up (3.1)

Printing

pictures (3.2)

Pre-download stage

At-download stage

Pre-share stage

Upload on Cloud Drive

(1.2)

Figure 5.1 Flow diagram of Chinese overseas students’ photowork lifecycle.

Compared to Kirk et al.’s (2006) work, there is a slightly change in this diagram. Since it has been

widely used, Chinese students tend to upload their raw photos to Cloud Drive. When these pictures are

needed, they can download and edit them. Another way for users to employ Cloud Drive is to share

these photos instantly with their friends and family. These new practices are due to the emerging

technology can has implications on people.

42


To identify the changes of Chinese overseas students’ photo sharing behaviours (The UK vs

China).

As the results (section 4.2.4) show, Chinese students noted several changes in their photo sharing

behaviour, including the use of apps, contact with family, sense of security and information literacy.

Students installed more apps than before. Some social networking sites and apps such as Facebook

cannot be used in China and their foreign friends are habituated to use them (e.g. Facebook and

Twitter). Therefore, they start to use new social networking sites and apps in order to make it easier to

share photos with their foreign friends. Likewise, students prefer to use WeChat and Weibo to share

photos with their Chinese friends due to these apps having a large number of Chinese users, which

means many of their Chinese friends are also using them. As a consequence, Chinese students reported

that they may need to post the same photos to different social networking sites in order to allow

different group of people to view them. Chinese international students noted that they use mobile

photo sharing more frequently in the UK. The reason is due to the well-developed infrastructures such

as free Wi-Fi hotspots and 3G networks. These are the crucial factors for enabling them to share more

photos.

In addition, students reported that they prefer to share photos with parents. They consider that this can

be a good way to communicate with their families. As Mandl and Levin (1989) stated, pictures can be

a better way for people to communicate effectively than text. In this case, students are willing to share

photos with their parents. It can convey the information more vivid, thus, their family members can

better understand the meaning. For example, it is hard to describe the living environment in text,

however, with the use of several photos it can be easier.

43

Moreover, students have increased their sense of security after come to the UK. Since they may have a

lack of self-protection awareness, students shared photos without any privacy considerations. Thus,

some of them met several photo sharing privacy issues when they first came to the UK. Following

these experiences, they can develop a better sense of self-protection.

Furthermore, a few students noted that their information literacy have changed due to the class they

were attending in the university (in the UK). They realized the importance of improving their

information literacy in photo sharing. They tend to add more detailed information such as a short

description to each photo in order to make viewers better understand the reason to share it.


To find out the status quo of mobile photo sharing apps used among Chinese overseas

students.

From the results (section 4.3), it shows that all students use at least two apps for mobile sharing. The

applications are various, including WeChat, Weibo, Instagram, QQ, Facebook and Lofter. As the table

(4.2) shows, WeChat becomes the most popular mobile photo sharing app among Chinese

international students. The reason for this phenomenon is that WeChat has many well designed

features, which can attract more users to use it. Since students mainly share photos with their friends

and family (table 4.2), they tend to choose the app (currently used by friends and family) that has the

largest users. In addition, students’ average frequency for using these apps was approximately 5 times

a day. However, Chen (2009) stated that the reason that international students rarely use a mobile for

photo sharing is due to the low specification (e.g. low resolution) with their camera phones. This

indicates that students are increasingly utilizing mobile for photo sharing with the development of

mobile technology. Moreover, the most time they spend on these apps is spent viewing and

commenting others’ pictures rather than posting own photos. Furthermore, landscape and daily

pictures are the main types of photos taken and shared by students. These photos can contain moments

44

and stories of their lives. They want to convey these to others through photos and feel it is the nature

and purpose of photo sharing.


To discuss mobile photo sharing privacy issues and concerns based on users’ experience of

using WeChat.

The researcher investigated Chinese international students’ privacy concerns based on users’

experience of using WeChat from four themes, including security, identity, social disclosure and

convenience. In each themes, the results are presented in two aspects (self and others).

As the Table (4.4) shows, students have photo sharing privacy considerations and concerns for both

themselves and others. The numbers represent the number of participants who have considerations and

concerns for specific themes. In this table, numbers in ‘Self’ row are bigger than in ‘Other’ row, which

shows that students are more care about their own privacy. However, in Ahern et al.’s (2007) work, it

indicated the opposite result. He found that participants voiced privacy concerns of others more often

than concern with their own privacy, especially for parents (e.g. care about their children).

In addition, the identity theme is a concern for most students. They may not desire to expose their

identities to others. Moreover, the privacy of social disclosure and convenience are also considered by

them. They tend to choose specific group of people to share with. Sometimes they do not upload

photos due to the concern of exposing their whereabouts and activities. Furthermore, from Table (4.4),

it shows that students have little worries about the security theme. This phenomenon is similar to

Ahern et al.’s (2007) results.

Overall, Chinese overseas students have shown a certain level of privacy concerns when they are using

WeChat for photo sharing. For instance, they select photos based on their own privacy considerations.

Nevertheless, they still have a relative low sense of security awareness.

45


To discover Chinese overseas students’ attitude and considerations about location privacy.

As the results (section 4.5) show that most Chinese international students (8/10) are lacking in

awareness of location privacy. This phenomenon was also suggested by Chen (2009). He noted

Chinese students have lower privacy concern than Indian students. The reason in one hand is due to the

possibility that they do not realize the potential risk of location disclosure. They have no relevant

experience to learn from or have not been educated by other people. The other reason is owing to

social networking sites and apps which are lacking of location privacy guidelines. For instance, several

students reported that they cannot easily find the location privacy settings of mobile photo sharing

apps, while only two students set privacy settings in order to protect themselves. This aspect should be

noticed by system designers.

In addition, most students (8/10) reported that their location privacy decisions depend on different

levels of location granularity. In terms of different level of granularity, students have different

preferences and considerations. Normally, a wide range of geographical areas such as city names can

be accepted by students. This level of granularity cannot reflect the exact location of users. This

consideration was also noted by Ahern et al. (2007). As he stated, participants are comfortable with

different levels of granularity. For example, some of them can accepted city, but not zip code, while

others are comfortable with zip code, but not exact home address.

Moreover, few students consider that their location privacy decision may also be influenced by the

types of location. Generally it can be divided into two types, including public and private locations.

They consider that public places such as restaurant cannot have negative implications on their location

privacy. Although they are exact positions, since the population mobility is usually large in these

places, therefore, there may not have potential risks for most people. However, for private locations

such as home address, students are not willing to share them with others.

46

Furthermore, female students (4/5) have more sense of protection awareness than male students (2/5).

The reason may due to the fact that females are more likely to be involved in crimes and may be

lacking in power to protect themselves. Thus, they are more cautious about privacy issues.

47

Chapter 6 - CONCLUSION

6.1 Introduction

In the previous chapter, the research has brought out several key findings about photo sharing practice

and privacy of Chinese overseas students. Nevertheless, since this study was conducted among a small

group of students, there may have several limitations in this research, which will be noted in this

chapter. Finally, the researcher will provide some suggestions for further research areas related to this

topic.

6.2 Key Findings

In regards to the photowork lifecycle, Chinese overseas students’ behaviours are similar to the research

conducted by Kirk et al. (2006). Nevertheless, as figure 5.1 shows, Cloud Drive as an emerging

technology has changed the process of students’ photowork. After they take photos, students will

instantly back up their photos by uploading them to the Cloud Drive. Then they download all or

several specific photos when they were needed. Sometimes they can directly share photos on the

Cloud Drive with others. In addition, mobile cameras have become popular among Chinese

international students. They are the main tools for students to take photos with. Moreover, more

professional cameras such as DLSR camera are also used by several students to allow them can

capture photos under extreme environments (e.g. dark). Consequently, they currently have more varied

ways to carry out photo related activities.

After arriving the UK, Chinese overseas students exhibit several changes in their photo sharing

behaviours, including their use of apps, contact with parents, the sense of security, and information

literacy. They tend to use different ways (e.g. varied social networking sites) to share photos in order

to make their friends view these shared photos more easily. For their foreign friends, they prefer to

share photos through Facebook, while they share photos to their Chinese friend via WeChat.

48

On average, Chinese student have installed at least two mobile sharing apps. WeChat is the most

popular app among these international students. In addition, they use these apps more frequently than

before. Moreover, students spend more time on viewing others’ shard photos rather than posting their

own photos.

In terms of the mobile photo sharing privacy, students have shown certain level of privacy

considerations and concerns. In addition, they care about their own privacy issues more than others.

Regarding different privacy themes (security, identity, social disclosure and convenience), the identity

aspect is a concern for most students, while the potential risks of the security aspect can be identified

by few students.

Furthermore, Chinese overseas students are lacking in awareness of location privacy. In addition,

students consider that the level of granularity can be a crucial factor, which have an impact on their

location privacy decisions. Moreover, location privacy decisions can be also influenced by the types of

location. Normally, the location is divided into two types, including public and private locations.

Additionally, female students have shown more sense of protection awareness than male students.

6.3 Limitations to the Study

There are several factors may be a limitation to the study. These may have a significant impact on the

generalizability of the results and findings. Sample size and the limited time to accomplish the research

are two key issues. The number of interviewees is not sufficient. The results may not reflect the

general behaviour, attitude and consideration of a large group of people. In addition, the time for

completing this research is short. Therefore, several aspects of this study may not be comprehensively

and in-depth discussed. Moreover, it should be noted that 9 out of 10 participants are from the

University of Sheffield. This is contrary to the randomness of the sample. It would be better to

interview Chinese overseas students from various universities.

49

6.4 Recommendations for Further Research

In this study, only Chinese overseas students were investigated. Further study can select interviewees

from varied nationalities and compare the results. Moreover, as noted in the limitation of the study, it

would be better to interview more people in further work. Furthermore, with the development of new

technologies, they may affect students’ photo sharing behaviours. At the same time, new privacy

concerns may emerge as well. Further research can study on these aspects.

(Word Count 12,639)

50

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Appendices

Appendix A

Interview Questions

Section 1

Education: _______________ Gender: M □ F □

Age: _______________

Section 2

1. How often do you take photos?

2. What do you use to take pictures? And which one do you use more often?

3. Do you always carrying a digital camera with you except camera phone?

4. How many photos do you take during a period of time? (e.g. one day or one week)

5. How do you manage your photos?

6. Who do you like to share with and why?

7. What is your preferred way of sharing photos and why?

8. Do you use mobile apps for photo sharing?

9. Are there any reasons for using certain photo sharing apps or social networking site?

56

10. Compared to the past, have your photo sharing behaviour changed and why? (in the UK vs in

China)

Section 3 – To examine variety of mobile apps to explore the existing and potential privacy issues.

Name of the mobile photo sharing apps used: _________________________

1. Any particular reasons of using it (e.g. decision based on the user groups and well-designed

features)?

2. What kind of photos do you take? (landscape, selfies, etc.)

3. How often use this app?

4. Who do you share photos with (friends, family or others)?

5. Do you have concerns or encounter any privacy issues (security, identity, social disclosure and

convenience)? If so, please describe it.

6. Do you have concerns about the location privacy? (e.g. specific privacy issues on geotagged photos)

7. Do you set your real personal photo as avatar of photo sharing apps and why? (avatar means users

select one specific picture to present their own identity)

8. Which privacy protection features that apps provide do you like and why? (e.g. setting group

member)

9. Are these privacy protection features important factors when you select apps?

Interview Questions Chinese Version

57

访问问题

第一部分

教育背景:____________________ 性别: 男女

年龄: ____________________

第二部分

1. 你多久拍一次照片？

2. 你用什么拍照？哪种方式会更多一些？

3. 外出除了携带手机外还会携带数码相机吗？

4. 在一段时间里你会拍多少照片？（例如一天或一周）

5. 你怎样管理你的照片？

6. 你愿意和谁分享照片？原因是什么？

7. 你喜欢用哪种方式分享照片？为什么？

8. 你会用手机分享照片吗？

9. 你选择使用照片分享社交网站或应用时有没有一些特殊的原因？

10.和过去相比，你的照片分享行为有没有发生改变？原因是什么？（英国和中国相比较）

58

第三部分 — 对多种手机照片分享软件调研，去探索发现其现有的以及潜在的隐私问题。

照片分享应用的名字: ____________________

1. 有没有特殊原因去使用它/它们？（例如由用户群或较好的功能设计）

2. 你经常会拍哪种类型的照片？

3. 你使用该应用的频率是多少？

4. 你会分享照片给谁？（朋友，家人或其他人）

5. 你有没有担心或遇到过一些隐私问题？（安全，身份，社会信息披露以及便利性）如果有相

应情况，请描述。

6. 你担心位置隐私问题吗？（例如照片中包含的地理位置可能暴露你的行踪）

7. 你会不会使用真实的照片作为手机应用的头像？为什么？

8. 你最喜欢哪个隐私保护的功能？为什么？（例如设置分组）

9. 这些隐私保护功能是不是你选择使用应用的重要因素？

59

Appendix B

Information School Research Ethics Panel

Letter of Approval

Date: 10th

July 2014

TO: Yixuan Gao

The Information School Research Ethics Panel has examined the following application:

Title: Photo sharing: An investigation of Chinese students in the UK, practice and privacy

Submitted by: Yixuan Gao

And found the proposed research involving human participants to be in accordance with the

University of Sheffield’s policies and procedures, which include the University’s ‘Financial

Regulations’, ‘Good Research Practice Standards’ and the

‘Ethics Policy Governing Research Involving Human Participants, Personal Data and

Human Tissue’ (Ethics Policy).

This letter is the official record of ethics approval by the School, and should accompany any

formal requests for evidence of research ethics approval.

Effective Date: 4th

July 2014

Dr Angela Lin

Research Ethics Coordinator

60

Appendix C

The University of Sheffield.

Information School

Proposal for

Research Ethics Review

Students Staff This proposal submitted by: This proposal is for:

Undergraduate Specific research project

X Postgraduate (Taught) – PGT Generic research project

Postgraduate (Research) – PGR This project is funded by:

N/A

Project Title: Photo sharing: An investigation of Chinese Overseas students, practice and privacy

Start Date: 03/JUL/2014 End Date: 01/SEP/2014

Principal Investigator (PI):

(student for supervised

UG/PGT/PGR research)

Yixuan Gao

Email: [email protected]

Supervisor:

(if PI is a student)

Dr Robert Villa

Email: [email protected]

Indicate if the research: (put an X in front of all that apply)

Involves adults with mental incapacity or mental illness, or those unable to make a personal decision

Involves prisoners or others in custodial care (e.g. young offenders)

Involves children or young people aged under 18 years of age

Involves highly sensitive topics such as ‘race’ or ethnicity; political opinion; religious, spiritual or

other beliefs; physical or mental health conditions; sexuality; abuse (child, adult); nudity and the

body; criminal activities; political asylum; conflict situations; and personal violence.

Please indicate by inserting an “X” in the left hand box that you are conversant with the University’s

policy on the handling of human participants and their data.

61

X

We confirm that we have read the current version of the University of Sheffield Ethics Policy

Governing Research Involving Human Participants, Personal Data and Human Tissue, as shown

on the University’s research ethics website at: www.sheffield.ac.uk/ris/other/gov-

ethics/ethicspolicy

Part B. Summary of the Research

B1. Briefly summarise the project’s aims and objectives:

(This must be in language comprehensible to a layperson and should take no more than one-half page. Provide

enough information so that the reviewer can understand the intent of the research) Summary:

Photo sharing is a popular topic. Various researchers have surveyed people’s photo sharing behaviour.

As a specific special group, international students may have their own photo sharing practice and

privacy issues. The focus of this research is on international Chinese students. The reason to choose

Chinese students as a target group are that they are becoming the major international students in the

UK. It is important and necessary to investigate this specific group. In this study, first we will

interview Chinese international students’ about their photo sharing behaviours. Second to examine

mobile photo sharing privacy issues, the policies, terms of service, and functionalities of different

mobile apps will be investigated to explore the existing privacy issues and try to find appropriate

solutions.

Research Questions:

To interview Chinese international students’ about their photo sharing behaviours.

To explore the existing mobile sharing privacy issues and try to find corresponding solutions.

B2. Methodology:

Provide a broad overview of the methodology in no more than one-half page.

Overview of Methods:

This study will involve interviews in order to acquire qualitative data. Ten participants will be chosen

from variety of channels. There are 5 male and 5 female interviewees. They are all Chinese

international students.

If more than one method, e.g., survey, interview, etc. is used, please respond to the questions in Section C

for each method. That is, if you are using both a survey and interviews, duplicate the page and answer the

questions for each method; you need not duplicate the information, and may simply indicate, “see

previous section.”

http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/ris/other/gov-ethics/ethicspolicy

http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/ris/other/gov-ethics/ethicspolicy

62

C1. Briefly describe how each method will be applied

Method (e.g., survey, interview, observation, experiment):

The method used will be by interview only.

Description – how will you apply the method?

The interview will be conducted in a safe place such as a meeting room at the Information School. The interview will

contain two parts. Part 1 is about participants’ general background. Part 2 will include several questions about their photo

sharing behaviours and privacy concerns when they are using specific mobile apps. Most questions will be open-ended.

About your Participants

C2. Who will be potential participants?

Chinese international students

C3. How will the potential participants be identified and recruited?

By variety of approaches such as email and by asking people in person (voluntary).

C4. What is the potential for physical and/or psychological harm / distress to participants?

No.

C5. Will informed consent be obtained from the participants?

X Yes

No

If Yes, please explain how informed consent will be obtained?

At the beginning of the interview, I will explain the research method and process, then if the interviewee agreed

to participant, they will be asked to sign the consent form.

If No, please explain why you need to do this, and how the participants will be de-briefed?

C6. Will financial / in kind payments (other than reasonable expenses and compensation for time) be

offered to participants? (Indicate how much and on what basis this has been decided)

No.

About the Data

C7. What data will be collected? (Tick all that apply)

Print Digital

Participant observation

Audio recording X

Video recording

Computer logs

Questionnaires/Surveys X

Other: Related materials used in

interview

X X

Other:

C8. What measures will be put in place to ensure confidentiality of personal data, where appropriate?

63

The experiment will not need the participant’s real name. A randomly number will represent a participant. This

number will be used to identify different interviewees in the research. After finish research, all data will be kept

safety and securely on a computer which is password protected.

C9. How/Where will the data be stored?

The data will be stored on my laptop. I will not upload it on the internet or share it with others. My laptop is

only used by myself, and the data will be password protected.

C10. Will the data be stored for future re-use? If so, please explain

The data will only be used for my postgraduate research, once the feedback is received, all data will be deleted.

About the Procedure

C11. Does your research raise any issues of personal safety for you or other researchers involved in the

project (especially if taking place outside working hours or off University premises)? If so, please explain

how it will be managed.

The interviews will be conducted in a place convenient for the interviewees such as the university’s meeting

room at day time, which will be safe for both interviewer and interviewees.

64

The University of Sheffield.

Information School Research Ethics

Review

Declaration

Title of Research Project: Photo sharing: Photo sharing: An investigation of Chinese Overseas students,

practice and privacy

We confirm our responsibility to deliver the research project in accordance with the University of Sheffield’s

policies and procedures, which include the University’s ‘Financial Regulations’, ‘Good Research Practice

Standards’ and the ‘Ethics Policy Governing Research Involving Human Participants, Personal Data and

Human Tissue’ (Ethics Policy) and, where externally funded, with the terms and conditions of the research

funder.

In submitting this research ethics application form I am also confirming that:

The form is accurate to the best of our knowledge and belief.

The project will abide by the University’s Ethics Policy.

There is no potential material interest that may, or may appear to, impair the independence and

objectivity of researchers conducting this project.

Subject to the research being approved, we undertake to adhere to the project protocol without

unagreed deviation and to comply with any conditions set out in the letter from the University ethics

reviewers notifying me of this.

We undertake to inform the ethics reviewers of significant changes to the protocol (by contacting our

academic department’s Ethics Coordinator in the first instance).

we are aware of our responsibility to be up to date and comply with the requirements of the law and

relevant guidelines relating to security and confidentiality of personal data, including the need to

register when necessary with the appropriate Data Protection Officer (within the University the Data

Protection Officer is based in CiCS).

We understand that the project, including research records and data, may be subject to inspection for

audit purposes, if required in future.

We understand that personal data about us as researchers in this form will be held by those involved

in the ethics review procedure (e.g. the Ethics Administrator and/or ethics reviewers) and that this

will be managed according to Data Protection Act principles.

If this is an application for a ‘generic’ project all the individual projects that fit under the generic

project are compatible with this application.

We understand that this project cannot be submitted for ethics approval in more than one

department, and that if I wish to appeal against the decision made, this must be done through

the original department.

Name of the Student (if applicable):

Yixuan Gao

Name of Principal Investigator (or the Supervisor):

Dr Robert Villa

Date: July 3, 2014

65

Appendix D

The University of

Sheffield.

Information School

Photo sharing: An investigation of Chinese Overseas

students, practice and privacy

Researchers Yixuan Gao Dr Robert Villa

Msc Information Management Student Information School

Information School University of Sheffield

University of Sheffield [email protected]

[email protected]

Purpose of the research In this study, we will interview Chinese international students’ about their photo sharing behaviours. Second

to examine mobile photo sharing privacy issues, several mobile apps will be involved to explore the existing

privacy issues and try to find appropriate solutions.

Research Questions:

To interview Chinese international students’ about their photo sharing behaviours.

To explore the existing mobile sharing privacy issues and try to find corresponding solutions.

Who will be participating? We are inviting Chinese international students to participate this interview.

What will you be asked to do? The interview will be conducted in a safe place such as a meeting room at the Information School. The

interview will contain two parts. Part 1 is about participants’ general background. Part 2 will include several

questions about their photo sharing behaviours and privacy concerns when they are using specific mobile

apps. Most questions will be open-ended.

What are the potential risks of participating? The risks of participating are the same as those experienced in everyday life.

What data will we collect? We are audio recording the interviews. The data will be stored on my computer and only analysed for my

postgraduate project. The data will be deleted after my dissertation has been marked.

What will we do with the data? We will be analyzing the data for inclusion in my master’s dissertation. After that point, the data will be

destroyed

Will my participation be confidential? The experiment do not need the participant’s real name. A randomly number will represent a participant.

This number will be used to identify different interviewees in the research. After finish research, all data will

be kept safety.

What will happen to the results of the research project?

66

The results of this study will be included in my master’s dissertation which will be publicly available.

I confirm that I have read and understand the description of the research project, and that I have had an

opportunity to ask questions about the project.

I understand that my participation is voluntary and that I am free to withdraw at any time without any

negative consequences.

I understand that I may decline to answer any particular question or questions, or to do any of the activities. If

I stop participating at all time, all of my data will be purged.

I understand that my responses will be kept strictly confidential, that my name or identity will not be linked to

any research materials, and that I will not be identified or identifiable in any report or reports that result from

the research.

I give permission for the research team members to have access to my anonymised responses.

I give permission for the research team to re-use my data for future research as specified above.

I agree to take part in the research project as described above.

Participant Name (Please print) Participant Signature

Researcher Name (Please print) Researcher Signature

Date

Note: If you have any difficulties with, or wish to voice concern about, any aspect of your participation in

this study, please contact Dr. Angela Lin, Research Ethics Coordinator, Information School, The

University of Sheffield ([email protected]), or to the University Registrar and Secretary.

mailto:[email protected]

67

Appendix E

Access to Dissertation

A Dissertation submitted to the University may be held by the Department (or School) within which the Dissertation was

undertaken and made available for borrowing or consultation in accordance with University Regulations.

Requests for the loan of dissertations may be received from libraries in the UK and overseas. The Department may also

receive requests from other organisations, as well as individuals. The conservation of the original dissertation is better

assured if the Department and/or Library can fulfill such requests by sending a copy. The Department may also make

your dissertation available via its web pages.

In certain cases where confidentiality of information is concerned, if either the author or the supervisor so requests, the

Department will withhold the dissertation from loan or consultation for the period specified below. Where no such

restriction is in force, the Department may also deposit the Dissertation in the University of Sheffield Library.

To be completed by the Author – Select (a) or (b) by placing a tick in the appropriate box

If you are willing to give permission for the Information School to make your dissertation available in these ways, please

complete the following:

X (a) Subject to the General Regulation on Intellectual Property, I, the author, agree to this dissertation being made

immediately available through the Department and/or University Library for consultation, and for the Department

and/or Library to reproduce this dissertation in whole or part in order to supply single copies for the purpose of

research or private study

(b) Subject to the General Regulation on Intellectual Property, I, the author, request that this dissertation be withheld

from loan, consultation or reproduction for a period of [ ] years from the date of its submission. Subsequent to this

period, I agree to this dissertation being made available through the Department and/or University Library for

consultation, and for the Department and/or Library to reproduce this dissertation in whole or part in order to supply

single copies for the purpose of research or private study

Name Yixuan Gao

Department Information School

Signed Yixuan Gao Date 30/Aug/2014

To be completed by the Supervisor – Select (a) or (b) by placing a tick in the appropriate box

(a) I, the supervisor, agree to this dissertation being made immediately available through the Department and/or

University Library for loan or consultation, subject to any special restrictions (*) agreed with external organisations

as part of a collaborative project.

*Special

restrictions

(b) I, the supervisor, request that this dissertation be withheld from loan, consultation or reproduction for a period of [ ]

years from the date of its submission. Subsequent to this period, I, agree to this dissertation being made available

through the Department and/or University Library for loan or consultation, subject to any special restrictions (*)

agreed with external organisations as part of a collaborative project

Name

Department

Signed Date

68

THIS SHEET MUST BE SUBMITTED WITH DISSERTATIONS BY DEPARTMENTAL REQUIREMENTS.

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